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Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools announced Tuesday that it has implemented significant reforms in the year since the state auditor found the school received $180 million for which it was ineligible and engaged in wasteful spending and inappropriate hiring practices.
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The school’s announcement said that the California State Auditor has marked all 18 audit recommendations as “fully implemented.”
“This is a meaningful step forward for Highlands,” Jonathan Raymond, executive director of Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools, wrote in a statement. “The work was not easy. It required stronger systems, better documentation, difficult conversations, and follow-through across the organization.”
Raymond wrote that the school took the audit seriously, made the reforms and submitted evidence to the state auditor.
Changes included stronger attendance systems, improved financial controls and updated policies and procedures. The school also implemented stronger documentation practices, enhanced oversight and new systems designed to increase accountability across the organization.
According to last year’s audit, the school’s wasteful spending included roughly $2 million on employee trips to San Diego, $80,000 for travel to Maui and $2,600 for a trip to France. It also that revealed Highlands hired unqualified teachers and saw poor student outcomes, likely due to its large class sizes.
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In response to these findings, the Twin Rivers Unified School District voted in January to revoke the school’s charter. The Sacramento County Board of Education, however, reversed the decision in a close vote. Four of seven members agreed with the District’s staff recommendation that the school had addressed the violations and should keep its charter.
The state audit directed Highlands to perform the following actions regarding spending:
- Implement policies for allowable uses of public funding to ensure it spends K-12 funding appropriately.
- Implement comprehensive contracting policies to ensure that it does not execute wasteful contracts.
- Require that all purchases and contracts over $115,000 be approved by the board.
The school also received instruction to complete the following steps related to hiring practices:
- Formalize its hiring process.
- Implement a process to ensure that its teachers are properly credentialed and appropriately assigned to classes.
- Establish an appropriate student-to-teacher ratio for its classroom-based instruction.
The other recommendations can be found on the California State Auditor website.
Raymond wrote that Highlands is a different organization today.
“We know the work of continuous improvement is never finished, but this milestone shows that real reform has taken root,” he continued. “Integrity means we do what we say we are going to do. Standards mean we raise expectations and strengthen systems. Care means we build an organization that can serve students better. Full implementation of these recommendations reflects all three.”
The school continues to operate and serve students. This week, nearly 2,000 students and 200 faculty and staff began the new school year. Highlands offers two programs: Highlands Community Charter School, which provides traditional classroom instruction, and the California Innovative Career Academy, a high school education program serving immigrants, refugees and formerly incarcerated people.
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